It was March 1979 when IPS opened the correspondent bureau in Havana, so this year marks the 30th anniversary of IPS Cuba. A series of commemorative initiatives were organised from 17- 22 March. A visit to a sustainable development project, the focus of one of the many in-depth reports transmitted globally by IPS from Cuba, concluded intensive days of celebrations of the IPS presence in the Caribbean isle.

Initiatives included the presentation of the book “Fotos de Cuba” containing the most outstanding reports written between 1997 and 2008 by IPS Cuba correspondents Patricia Grogg and Dalia Acosta, with a prologue by Leonardo Padura, Cuban writer and journalist. Presentations were made by Joaquin Costanzo, IPS Director for Latin America and Mario Osava, IPS correspondent in Brazil. The event was held in the International Institute of Journalism “Jose Marti”.

Another event was a picture exhibition called “Retos de la Naturaleza” (Challenges of Nature) in a joint effort between IPS, the national information Agency of Cuba (AIN) and the Bureau of the Historian of the City of Cuba, with the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco). The exhibition was inaugurated by Roberto Savio, IPS founder and President Emeritus, Esteban Ramirez Ain, Director, and Jose Rubiera, Chief of the Forecast Centre of the Meteorology Institute of Cuba.

A series of presentations of the work of IPS Cuba was carried out during these days, one of the most exciting moments being when IPS Cuba Director, Elsa Methol, was honoured by Cuban civil society with the Paloma Award for her important contribution to promoting the culture of peace in the isle.

Examples of the work carried out by IPS Cuba includes:

– For more than 20 years, IPS Cuba has elaborated and distributed a series of publications in English and Spanish. Today they are: a Weekly Magazine, a Monthly Magazine, Economics Press Service (fortnightly), Enfoques (fortnightly), and Culture and Society (monthly).

– Between 1989 and 1995 the production of more than 50 short films on health, environment, development, agriculture, among others.

– Working with Radio Taino from 1988 – 1994 producing the programmes Piceladas Cubanas and La Isla Verde. After that date, it continued collaborating with a radio program Temas de Economia on international economy.

– Editing and distribution of more than 400 thematic monographs on Cuba, written by intellectuals, academics, specialists, journalists and Cuban civil society actors for the publication Enfoques.

– The production of two editions of the CD-Rom Cuba a la Mano (1997 – 1999) gathering more than 10,000 publications between 1988 – 1999, the last edition dedicated to a special and successful event of major international relevance in 1998: the visit of Pope John Paul II.

– Three websites: Cuba a la mano, Voces and Visiones del Caribe; two mini-sites: “Leonardo Padura: entre dos siglos” and “IPS sale de la Habana”, with an increasing trend of visits, achieving over a million visits in 2007.